BCCI sets boundaries for KPL

The Karnataka State Cricket Association's ambitious plans for its own Twenty20 league - the KPL - have been dented somewhat by the BCCI, who have rejected a request from the KSCA to allow players from outside that state to participate in the proposed Karnataka Premier League (KPL).

This has been done to prevent the possibility of such tournaments diluting the concept of the cash-rich IPL.

N Srinivasan, the BCCI secretary, said the decision was taken during the Indian board's working committee meeting in Mumbai on Thursday. "They [Karnataka] asked for the permission about KPL but we told them that as long as they do not include players from outside Karnataka we have no problem," he said.

Ratnakar Shetty, the BCCI's chief administrative officer, said the decision was taken due to two reasons. "Primarily, the BCCI wants to ensure that the concept of the IPL, a hugely successful property, is not diluted," Shetty told Cricinfo. "Besides, the board wants to avoid a situation where other state associations come up with similar demands and players end up playing for states other than their own. In the long term, this will affect the game's development at the local level."

Brijesh Patel, secretary of the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), indicated that the decision was on expected lines and said the tournament would go ahead as planned with an auction of 40 state cricketers in Bangalore on Friday. "It is a local tournament and to hire outstation players we need BCCI permission, and they have said no to that," Patel told Cricinfo. "We are fine with that, and this won't affect the tournament. We had already made it clear to the franchises that this proposal was subject to BCCI approval."

Charu Sharma, who represents the Frontier Group, KPL's partner, also said the BCCI decision would not affect the popularity of the tournament. "It was only an opportunity for the development of players to display their Twenty20 skills but if the [Indian] board in their wisdom feel outstation players shouldn't be included we will abide by it," Sharma said.

The KSCA had launched the league last month to expand the game to rural areas in the state, and bidding for eight franchises in the tournament had fetched Rs 35 crore.

The tournament and the whole idea behind it, however, had been harshly questioned and criticized by former Indian and Karnataka players Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath.

The ex-players had raised concerns over the franchise model that would allow people not associated with the game to play a significant role in the tournament and asked the KSCA to organise KPL with its own funds.

Rahul Dravid - also from Karnataka - is also not going to take part in the KPL.